This concise book is a broad and highly motivational introduction for first-year engineering students to the exciting of field of chemical engineering. The material in the text is meant to precede the traditional second-year topics. It provides students with, 1) materials to assist them in deciding whether to major in chemical engineering; and 2) help for future chemical engineering majors to recognize in later courses the connections between advanced topics and relationships to the whole discipline. This text, or portions of it, may be useful for the chemical engineering portion of a broader freshman level introduction to engineering course that examines multiple engineering fields.

More Contemporary Applications: This edition has an increased focus on contemporary applications of chemical engineering (humanitarian, biomedical, energy, etc.), as reflected by the new title (the title of previous editions was Introduction to Chemical Process Fundamentals and Design).

Discussions have been added to the end of most chapters providing examples of how topics in the chapter are applied to current problems of society to help motivate student study of the topics.

The concept of the Grand Challenges: The recommendations of the National Academy of Engineering have been added, along with brief statements about the leadership role of chemical engineering in addressing many of those challenges.

Ethics: The AIChE Code of Ethics has been added, along with discussion and examples (including a homework exercise) illustrating its application.

Homework Problems: Additional homework problems have been added to support the new content and illustrate important applications.

Refinements: Corrections, clarifications, and improvements have been added as guided by our own experience and by feedback from students and colleagues. This includes format changes that help students identify and locate key content.

Relevance: The text helps students recognize how what
they are learning in their engineering, chemistry, and physics
courses applies to professional practice and how chemical
engineering will play a critical role in solving important global
challenges.

Problem-Solving: The content helps beginning students
develop problem-solving skills, including the ability to solve
quantitative problems appropriate for students at their level.

Introduction to Design: Following the central story line
throughout the book, students are led step-by-step through a
chemical engineering design project, and perform a variety of
design calculations as a basis for design decisions.

Homework Problems help students practice the skills that
they’ve learned and Assessment, Practice and Self-Study
Resources help students learn the concepts and skills
presented.

Case Studies give students the opportunity to apply what
they’ve learned in a number of areas to the solution of a
design problem.

Spreadsheets: Students are introduced to spreadsheets,
and homework problems throughout the book give the students
practice with this tool.

Engineering Teamwork, Ethics, and Creative
Problem-Solving: These topics begin building the
student’s ability to guide teams of peers to creative and
ethical solutions.

Introduction and Integration of Chemical Engineering
Topics: The text provides an integrated, holistic view of the
chemical engineering discipline.